1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shielded connector with a watertight construction.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 8 shows a conventional shielded connector disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Preliminary Publication No. 63-127083. A metal shield 42 is fitted into a housing 41 molded of synthetic resin to enclose terminals 44. A shielding wire 46 is securely crimped at a braided shield 47 to a crimp element 48 of the metal shield 42 and respective sheathed wires 45 extend therefrom into the housing 41. The sheathed wires 45 are crimped to the corresponding terminals 44 seated in cavities 43. Electrical noise is directed to the crimp element 48 and metal shield 42 and passed through the braided shield 47 and drain wires 49 to ground.
The aforementioned construction is disadvantageous in that the distance from the cavities 43 to the crimp element 48 should be long for easy pullout of the sheathed wires 45 from the cavities 43. This long distance results in large size of connector.
Further, the construction is not watertight at all. The metal shield 42 fitted into the housing 41 increases the number of parts, and the assembling the metal shield 42 into the housing 41 is rather time consuming.
FIG. 9 shows a prior art watertight shield connector, disclosed in Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. 3-182071. A rubber 55 is molded integrally with the end portion of a shielding wire 52 to cover a portion between the shield 52 and the tip end portion of a braided wire 51. The rubber 55 serves to prevent water from getting into the shielding wire 52.
The rubber 55 causes the braided wire 51 to be fat and less flexible, making it difficult to pull out the terminal 56. A portion 57 is not shielded at all. Additionally, molding the rubber 55 with the shielded wire 52 and braided wire 51 is time consuming.